Available Light Portraiture

Some call the sun the only light you’ll ever need. The best part about it – it’s there every day and it doesn’t need batteries or cords. But to make it look good, that takes practice.

Before we step into the realm of light modifiers, times of day and camera orientation, we’ll start the workshop by noticing light. We’ll look at faces, what light looks good, what light looks bad, and why. Then, we’ll discuss how to find that good light, how to put your subject in it, and then most importantly, how to repeat it.

A portrait photographer for over twenty years, Bob got his start photographing adventure travel around the world. Everything he had at his disposal was in a bag on his back. As he went on to photograph people for advertising, corporate and editorial clients, he used all sorts of artificial light but always finds himself looking for ambient light.

“It’s a different way of scouting. You start with light, and then look for background, graphics, and other elements, but it all starts with light.”

Whether you’re using your phone or a $30,000 digital camera, come learn how to make your portraits better with available light.

More details:
We will start in the studio discussing good light and how to scout for it. Going out to my outdoor studio space we will do some hands on scouting and then return to the studio and look at how to improve existing light. After lunch we will return outside to gets some hands on practice with numerous options for controlling ambient light including large silks, reflectors, even cars. Following this we will return to the studio for a discussion on the Why’s of using available light with your subjects and finally we’ll use some of the attendees images from the day to look at some post production tips to further improve your available light portraits.